


the way you look tonight

by julieLn33



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Humor, just a lot of fluff okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28202328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julieLn33/pseuds/julieLn33
Summary: Alone on Christmas Eve, Clarke decides to go to the pub to have fun. So does Bellamy.It doesn’t go exactly as they both planned.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	the way you look tonight

**Author's Note:**

> a christmas fic lowkey inspired by a particular scene from crazy stupid love, enjoy :)

Christmas wasn't Clarke's favorite time of the year.

It's not that she always hated it. She used to love that holiday, especially when she was a kid. Her whole family would come to her house for a christmas dinner, she would have fun with her cousins. Her dad used to dress up as a Santa and leave dozens of presents under the christmas tree and everyone was just happy.

The tradition sort of ended when her father died. His side of the family stopped visiting them and soon they barely kept in touch. Her mother found herself a new husband, being the final nail in the coffin of Clarke's close relationship with her family.

So, this year she decided to _fuck that._ She wasn't gonna spend another Christmas with her mother and her dickhead of a husband who she truly hated.

At first she thought she would spend the holidays with Raven and Murphy, but it turned out that Raven was going to Liverpool to see her family and Murphy met some girl who he apparently was spending whole Christmas with. They both of course invited her to tag along, but she politely declined, knowing she would feel like even more shit if she was just a fifth wheel at someone's table.

So she stayed in Birmingham, all by herself for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, she decided to decorate her and Raven's apartment out of pure boredom. She pulled out the box with some old fairy lights and tacky ornaments her roommate refused to throw out. She'd never been more glad that Raven was so stubborn, because if she threw the box away like Clarke told her dozens of times, then Clarke would have nothing to do to kill time. Finding a place for all the decorations took her good two hours, therefore it was two hours less of sitting alone on the couch like a sad, old lady.

Still, it was only two PM, the whole apartment was decorated flawlessly and she couldn't pretend there was something to do anymore. She decided to make herself an instant soup which was one of the few things in her kitchen that weren't overdue and she sat on the couch, playing some dumb christmas movie. After an hour and a half, _The knight before christmas_ ended - it had to be the worst film she'd ever seen - and again, she had nothing to do.

She really hadn't thought that through.

She scrolled through instagram for a few minutes, liking some cute christmas pictures from time to time. Everyone seemed to be with their family or friends while she was sitting alone on her couch with an empty fridge and absolutely no plans.

 _God, she was so pathetic_.

Out of lack of ideas, she decided to take a long bath. She was in the middle of it when an idea occurred to her.

 _Fuck that._ She wasn't spending the night alone.

Ten minutes later, she got out of the bathtub and draped the towel around herself. Then she walked to her wardrobe to pick something she would wear. She finally chose a dress, black, short one that always managed to make her feel sexy. She put it on, then did her hair and make up and she was ready to go.

She left her apartment around six and headed towards the pub nearby. Her plan was simple - to get drunk and have fun. She just needed to unwind and distract herself from the misery she was in, and that... Well, that was the best way to do it.

She entered the building, welcomed by the mix of music and chatting. The place wasn't very crowded, probably for the fact that the vast majority of people was preparing for Christmas. Clarke walked to the bar, took a sit and ordered herself a drink. She looked around to see if there was anybody who she possibly could have some fun with. She spotted a cute girl standing near the pool table, but the second she wanted to stand up and go to talk to her, some guy approached the girl and kissed her, leaving Clarke with no possibility to shoot her shot. _Dammit._

Minutes past by and she realized that, _surprisingly_ , nobody came there alone. There were couples, or bigger groups of friends that decided to meet up before the holidays. Apparently, nobody but her was spending Christmas Eve alone at the pub.

"You look like you're having a lot of fun."

It took Clarke a few seconds to realize the sentence - whoever said it - was addressed to her. She slowly turned around to see a guy with dark, unruly curly hair, chestnut eyes and full lips. His skin wasn't white, but it wasn't dark either, so she supposed he was multiracial. Subtle freckles were splayed all over his face and she'd never seen a person that would look _so good_ with so many freckles.

Overall, he was a pretty pleasant view.

After a moment it came to her that she didn't say anything in response. "What?" she finally muttered.

He smiled and _goddamnit_ , his smile. It was something in between _cute_ and _hot,_ and it was just so... Flawless, almost.

"You've been sitting here for twenty minutes, watching these people. Is that your plan for the evening?"

She raised her brow at him with a half smile on her face. "Were you watching me?" she asked, avoiding his question.

He shrugged slightly. "Maybe I did" he admitted nonchalantly, his mouth twisted in a smirk. He pulled the chair next to her out and sat down on it. "So, what are you doing here alone?"

"Probably the same thing as you" she responded, eyeing him carefully. He was hot and didn't give off any creep vibes, plus he definitely was hitting on her. Maybe she had a little bit of luck, after all. "Looking for fun."

"Let me buy you a drink" he said, already calling the bartender. Before she could take her time to tell him _yes_ , or at least to choose a drink from the menu, he already told the bartender a name of a drink she couldn't quite repeat.

The guy was obviously bold, so she decided to play a little hard to get. "What makes you think that I want you to buy me a drink?" she asked sweetly when the bartender gave them his order.

"Gut feeling" he said shortly, taking a sip of his drink. "Why else would you come here if not to meet someone?"

"I could be waiting for a boyfriend" she pointed, sipping a drink of her own, which was actually _really_ good. A point for the guy - maybe he had a taste.

"That would be a lousy boyfriend, to meet you in a place like this on Christmas and make you wait on top of that."

"Pack it up, knight in shining armor" she said, cringing the next second. It would be much funnier if he knew the reference to the movie she'd watched earlier.

"Knight?" he repeated, clearly amused. "I'm just a gentleman, _princess_."

She chuckled. Maybe her situation wasn't so bad yet. "You gotta work on your pick up lines."

"I don't think so" he laughed and _god_ , his laugh was even better than his smile. "You're still talking to me, I think that means I'm not so bad."

"Aren't you a little too confident..?" she trailed off because he didn't know how to call him. "This could be the part when you tell me your name."

"I'm Bellamy."

"Bellamy" she echoed. "That's a weird ass name" she added and a second later she wished she didn't say it. She just met a guy that was the only person she could spend some quality time with at the moment and the first thing she told him was that his name was weird?

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid_.

"Shit, I'm sorry" she said before he could respond to her _fantastic_ comment. "I didn't mean... You know what, I'm shutting up now."

She'd expect him to be at least offended, but instead he was just grinning at her. "You're adorable" he stated and it was the last thing she'd expect him to say.

"What?"

"I said, you're adorable" he repeated. "And I think this is the time _you_ tell me your name, princess."

She smiled. He seemed actually _nice_ and that wasn't a thing you could say about a lot of guys that hit on you in the pub. "Are you gonna keep calling me princess?" she asked.

"Since you're refusing to tell me your name, yeah."

"It's Clarke."

"Clarke" he said and she _loved_ how her name sounded coming from his mouth. "I like the sound of that."

 _That made two of them_.

"Thanks, I guess" she replied and took a generous amount of her drink in her mouth. She hoped that alcohol would do its job soon and give her some courage. "So, Ballomy-"

"Bellamy" he corrected her, making her want to punch herself. He literally told her his name a minute before and she already forgot it? Someone should really forbid her from talking to people.

" _Bellamy_ " she repeated, cringing _again_ during the short time she'd been talking to him. "You wanna tell me something 'bout yourself?"

"Well, what do you want to know?" he asked, leaning in his chair.

"I don't know. Are you a murderer? Stalker or kidnapper?" she blurted before she could bite her tongue to stop herself from saying that.

"It's your lucky day, princess" he laughed and she thanked the gods he didn't take the question seriously. "I'm a perfectly good man."

"Are you?"

He smirked. "Most of the time."

She decided she really liked _Bellamy_. He seemed fun.

"So, what do you do?" she asked. _God, he must have thought she was so boring_.

He, although, didn't seem to think the same way, or at least he didn't show that. "I work at the bookstore nearby" he answered. She'd never think that he worked in a bookstore, he looked more like a model or an actor. "What about you?"

"Art gallery."

"So you're an artist?"

"Yeah, sort of" she said. "I mean, I paint sometimes."

For some reason, _Bellamy_ looked genuinely interested in that. "That's cool. You have any photos of your paintings?"

"Photos?" she echoed. Did he actually wanted to see her art?

"Like, on your phone."

"Oh, sure" she took her phone out of her purse, but then she hesitated, feeling sudden anxiety. What if he would make fun of her? She would probably just embarrass herself if she showed him her paintings. "I mean, they're not great."

"Come on, don't be embarrassed" he said as if he was reading her mind. "I won't be critical, I can't even draw a straight line."

His comment made her relax a little. "Alright" she sighed, still not quite sure why he really wanted to see the pictures. Even though, she opened the gallery on her phone and found a photo of one of her better paintings. "Here, don't laugh."

He took the phone in his hand and eyed the picture carefully. "Woah, you're talented" he said, zooming in to see more details.

"I don't know. I mean, it's not that bad-"

"No, it's really good" he interrupted her. "I mean it."

She smiled. He really was nice. "Thanks."

He looked at the photo for a moment and then closed the gallery app. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?" she asked reaching out to take her phone from him. Maybe he wasn't so nice after all. What was he even thinking?

"Saving my phone number for you" he answered calmly and handed her the phone the second he was finished.

_Oh._

"Smooth" she finally said, a little embarrassed. "Why do you think I want your number?"

A smirk appeared on his face again. "I just have a feeling you'll want to call me after tonight."

"Tell me again, what gives you the idea that I'm even single?"

"Well, it's kinda obvious" he said and even though he might not have meant anything bad by it, she felt pathetic. Did she really _look_ single? "It's Christmas eve and you're alone in the pub, talking to me."

"Should I take it as an insult?" she asked, trying her best to hide her resentment.

"No, of course not" he answered quickly, probably realizing that his comment didn't sound so nice. "Shit, I didn't mean- Hey, I think you're gorgeous."

She couldn't help but smile. "Gorgeous?"

"Yeah" he grinned at her. "And it's hard to believe that a girl like you is single."

Bellamy's flirt was... _Complicated_ would be the best word. But he wasn't awkward or try-hard, no, he seemed to say whatever came to his mind. He was oddly sweet and just _honest,_ and for some reason, it really worked on Clarke.

"Well, you chose a good time to hit on me. I just broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks ago."

He frowned. "Girlfriend?"

"I'm bi" she said simply. She was always quite open about her orientation, hating the idea of 'coming out'. "Is that a problem for you?" she asked, wanting to see his reaction. She was desperate not to spend the night alone, but not desperate enough to spend it with a homophobe.

He shrugged, not moved by her confession. "Why would it be a problem?"

"It's a problem for some people."

"Well, fuck those people."

"You're very lowkey about it" she noticed. She didn't think that she'd ever met a person that would accept her coming out so quickly.

"You wanna know a secret?"

"Um, yeah?" she answered hesitatingly, not sure what he was talking about.

"I'm bi myself" he confessed.

"Really?" she asked. She hated stereotypes, but Bellamy looked more like a straight guy, maybe even a womanizer. She'd never assume he was bi, thanks to the stereotypical bisexuals presented by the media.

He smiled. "Really."

"I've never met any bisexual but me. So do you have a preference? Or are you fifty-fifty?" she blurted, not sure why she even thought of that question. She herself hated when people asked her that. But he was the firt person she could actually talk about it with, so she wanted to use her opportunity. 

He didn't look annoyed and she was thankful for that. "No, I prefer women" he said without hesitation. "Men are trash."

"You're a man."

"Good point" he laughed. "But I'm your only option here so you're gonna have to deal with me."

She sighed. "I guess you're right."

***

Bellamy was _fun_.

She spent a good amount of time just talking to him, because talking to Bellamy was _so easy_. They never seemed to lack the topics which was Clarke's biggest concern at first. She'd learned quite a lot of things about him. She knew that he was from a small town called Arkadia located somewhere in the north and that he was studying history in Birmingham. Not only was he funny, but also surprisingly smart and _dammit,_ if it wasn't the sexiest thing ever.

A couple of drinks later, she decided she wanted to play pool with him. _Of course_ she didn't know shit about playing pools, so _of course_ he had to teach her, staying dangerously close to her while doing it.

"Look, just hold the cue like this" he instructed as he positioned her hands on the stick, staying behind her in a way that his chest was practically plastered to her back. Her heart was hammering inside her chest, feeling the heat of his body on her. "And then shoot."

With trembling hands, she took her shot and for the first time that evening, she made the stick actually hit the ball. "I did it!" she gasped a little too enthusiastically which might have been the cause of alcohol running in her veins. She turned around to see him standing only a foot away, staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer her question though, too busy studying her face. His eyes dropped to her lips for a little longer than necessary and she felt the wave of heat going through her body.

Then it all happened fast. He leaned over and then he was kissing her. It was soft and sweet at first, his lips barely touching hers, as if he was waiting for her reaction. For a second she was too shocked to return the kiss, so he pulled away from her, just a few inches.

"Sorry" he murmured with his eyes closed, resting his forehead on hers. "I just really wanted to kiss you."

There was something about this confession - simple as it was - that made Clarke loose all the resistance she had left in her. She wasn't sure what that was - maybe the fact that he admitted that or maybe just the way he said it with his breath mixing with hers and his face looking so vulnerable like that. Maybe both.

Or maybe that she really, _really_ missed his lips already.

And she gave in, kissing him back because she just _really wanted to kiss him too_ and his lips, even when they were only ghosting, felt _so good_ on hers.

The second she returned the kiss, it became more greedy and passionate. She moved her hands to his shoulders, just to do something else than standing there awkwardly. Bellamy seemed to be more confident than her when it came to kissing someone, because he knew exactly what to do. One of his hands wandered to the small of her back, bringing her even closer to him and the other one found its place on her cheek, cupping her face softly.

He moved his lips against hers and the way he did it made her forget about all the reasons why she should stop it. He was practically a stranger and it wasn't like her to kiss someone she'd met only hours before, but that didn't seem to matter anymore. There was just her and him and all she wanted to do was to be able to kiss him all night long.

He must have had similar thoughts, because she could fell the massive hard-on on her thigh and she would lie if she said it didn't make her aroused as well. Their kiss became more dirty than it should making her realize that they were still in a public place.

It almost hurt her to pull away from him, so she had to force herself to do it. "Maybe we should take it to your place" she breathed out before she could even realize the meaning of her words.

She then started to think of all the pros and cons, overanalyzing her situation like she always tended to do. The responsible part of her told her that she shouldn't go with him anywhere. But then there was the other part, the one that longed to touch him, to feel his lips on her. She wanted to, she _really wanted to_ go with him to his place and let him do whatever he wanted to do to her. She would really use a hook up - she hadn't been with anyone since Lexa, plus Christmas wasn't the best time fo the year to be alone. So she would sleep with a guy she barely knew. Would it really be that bad if it made her feel good?

"Okay" he said in a voice lower at least an octave and that was enough to make all of her doubts vanish as quickly as they appeared. "Come on."

Ever the gentleman he claimed to be (and she already learned he did it for a reason), he helped her put her coat on, and then put on his own jacket. In silence, he led her out of the pub, keeping one hand on the small of her back. They walked to his car - a black, massive rover - and he opened the door on the passenger side for her. She got in, he closed the door and then sat himself on the driver seat.

They didn't talk as he drove, but that silence didn't fell awkward, it was rather comforting. Some Christmas songs were playing quietly on the radio. He didn't seem to enjoy them that much, but he noticed her humming to the music, so he didn't turn it off.

While his left hand was placed steadily on the wheel, his right hand ghosted over her thigh, crossing small circles on her skin. It both relaxed her and sent electricity through her body at the same time, and the mix of those two feelings was almost too pleasing to be real.

"You good?" he asked her, glancing at her for a second before his eyes wandered back to the road.

"Yeah" she said shortly. "I'm good."

They soon arrived to his place. He parked the car, then _\- of course_ \- helped her her out of the rover and led her on the way to his flat. The apartment building was nice, maybe not the wealthiest one, but it was definitely well-maintained and the numerous decorations on the balconies made it look just lovely. She didn't have much time to look into that though because they quickly got inside the building.

Bellamy's apartment looked very cozy. It wasn't stunning and she already noticed a ton of things she would change there, but overall it didn't look bad. It was small, but rather practical.

She noticed one odd thing - there wasn't a single one christmas ornament, not even a tree. It was strange to her, because even though she didn't really like Christmas anymore, she always decorated her home and a tree was a necessity. It reminded her of her happy childhood, but then again, maybe Bellamy didn't have so many happy memories to reminisce.

She didn't know, she didn't ask. She wasn't there to do that, anyway.

Her thoughts were interrupted by no one else than Bellamy, who stood right behind her, placing his hands on her waist and nosing her earlobe. He started trailing a path down her neck with his lips and she completely lost herself in his kisses.

"You tell me if you're not good" he breathed against her skin. "If I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, just tell me, okay?"

It surprised her how caring he was towards her and how gentle his touch was, but it was a good kind of surprise. She turned around to face him, and he didn't move, waiting for her response. "Okay" she whispered and only after that he crushed his lips against hers again. He slowly moved forward, making her walk backwards until her back hit the wall.

For a second she thought that he was gonna fuck her right there against that wall, but instead he lifted her up, holding his hands on the back of her thighs and she wrapped her legs around his hips instinctively. He carried her to his bedroom and laid her carefully on his bed, getting on top of her. He kissed her softly on the lips and then his lips wandered down to her neck and her collarbone.

In that moment she couldn't help but start feeling nervous. He might have been much more experienced than her. What if she wasn't good enough for him?

And then she thought about what would happen after. They'd probably lay down on the bed awkwardly, not talking at all. And then they'd wake up the next day on Christmas morning, and he probably wouldn't even remember her name. She'd walk out of there knowing that she'd never see him again.

The thing was, she really liked him. And as much as she wanted to sleep with him, she just didn't want it to end. They had a nice evening and she enjoyed talking to him so much she wanted to do it more, prolong it.

"Bellamy" she said and he immediately stopped kissing her skin and looked up at her.

"Something's wrong?" he asked and she could _hear_ the concern in his voice.

She opened her mouth before realizing that she didn't know what she wanted to tell him. _I'm sorry, I don't want to have sex with you because I'm anxious and pathetic?_ No way.

She looked around the room, desperately trying to find something, _anything_ that would give her some better excuse. But luckily (or not so much), his bedroom was as normal as it could be and didn't have anything in it that could possibly help her.

There was just one thing she noticed in the darkness that got her attention. A poster.

"You seriously have a Queen poster in your bedroom?" she blurted out and _god,_ she'd never hated herself more.

Bellamy looked truly confused, but she couldn't blame him. However, he smiled at her and answered softly, "Yeah."

"That's so basic" she teased because she just couldn't stop herself. One reason of that was her talking the most random shit when she was nervous, and the other was that, well, being a Queen fan was in fact basic as fuck.

Bellamy chuckled while he got off her and lay down right next to her, leaning on his elbow. He still looked slightly baffled, but also quite amused. "That's not basic princess, that's classic."

"They're overrated" she stated, just for the sake of dragging that conversation.

"You're saying that because you only know like three songs" he pointed out, still grinning at her. "You should listen to something else than Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are The Champions."

"Oh, cut the crap. Just say you have a crush on Freddie."

He laughed slightly at her comment. It was odd, the way they casually talked about his music taste when only minutes before he was about to fuck her. But she didn't complain. Moreover, she kind of liked how fast she could change the mood with him, it made her feel... Comfortable.

"Well, who doesn't?"

"I don't."

He raised his brow at her. "What did you say?"

"I'm saying he wasn't that handsome."

"Okay, that's it" he said, acting deeply offended although his lips landed on her bare arm, leaving a trail of slow, opened mouth kisses on her skin. "One more word and you're out of here, young lady."

"Young lady?" she laughed out. At first she thought that he didn't mean to say that and that he'd regret that these words ever left his mouth, but his sarcastic tone indicated that he knew _exactly_ what he was saying. _He just wanted to make her laugh._ "What are you, my dad?"

He looked up at her with a mischievous grin splayed across his face. "Only if you're into it."

"Asshole."

He just laughed against her skin, turning his attention back to her body. She was a little more relaxed, but not relaxed enough to stop overthinking and overanalyzing.

"Don't tell me you have one of these old record players" she said just because it was the first thing that came to her mind.

He looked up at her again, even more amused than he already was. "I do have a record player."

"And you have LPs? They cost fortune."

"Well, music is better that way."

"God, you're such a grandpa" she sighed.

"Alright" he said, surprising her with how _entertained_ he seemed to be with that conversation. "I can do dad, but grandpa is step too far."

She chuckled. "Is granddaddy kink even a thing?"

"I don't know, you seem to know that."

"Shut up" she huffed, hitting him playfully on his arm. He obeyed and again, continued mouthing her skin, pulling down one strap of her dress.

And she desperately tried to find another topic, because as pleasing as his touch was, she felt nervous as hell.

Also, she te wanted to hear his laugh at least once again.

"So-"

"Hey," he interrupted her before she could come up with what she actually wanted to say. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" She felt so embarrassed. "Everything's fine."

"I can see that" he said, backing away from her as if he wanted to give her some space. "I told you to say something if you're not good."

"Shit, I'm sorry" she apologized, feeling awful seeing how worried he got. "It's not you... I'm just nervous, okay?" she confessed, not being able to look him in the eyes.

"You should've said something sooner."

"I'm sorry" she repeated, feeling so goddamn embarrassed. "I'm ruining your night, aren't I?

"No, you're not" he assured her and the tone of his voice made her actually believe him despite her anxiety. "You want me to bring you something? Some water, or-"

"There's one thing" she interjected.

"What's that?"

"You could show me that record player" she smiled slightly at him and she got the most beautiful smile from him in response.

"Sure."

He got up from the bed and then helped her to do so. They got to the small living room of his and he walked to the TV stand where the gramophone was placed. "What do you wanna listen to?"

"You have any christmas album?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Christmas songs are crap."

"So you don't celebrate Christmas, you don't have any ornaments and you hate christmas songs" she summed up. "Who are you, Grinch?"

He chuckled. "I just don't like Christmas."

"Believe me, me neither" she assured him, even though he seemed to hate that holiday way more than she did. "But at least I have a christmas tree. You don't. Why don't you have a tree?"

He shrugged. "Because I didn't want one."

"Everyone has a christmas tree."

"Well, I don't."

An idea popped to her head. "Let's get you one."

"What?" he asked, now genuinely confused. Fair enough, Clarke sometimes confused herself too.

"I said, let's get you a tree" she repeated. She didn't know why she even thought of that and why she insisted. But now that she started that conversation, she couldn't just get out of it. In for a penny, in for a pound. "I'll help you decorate it."

"Wha- Why do you wanna do that?"

"Because everyone should have a christmas tree" she responded. "It's so sad here. I don't wanna wake up on Christmas morning to see there's no tree. That'll make me even more depressed."

His lips twisted in a smirk. "So I get that you'll stay here tonight?"

"Only if we get you a tree."

He didn't need to think about it twice. "Deal."

Bellamy managed to keep surprising her. She didn't actually expect him to say _yes_ , but there they were, putting on coats and going to his car.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked on their way to the rover. "You don't even have a hat."

She was, in fact, cold as hell, considering that - unlike him - she was only wearing a thin dress and a coat that was actually more for autumn than for winter on top of that. But it was the only nice thing she had in her closet, since all of her winter jackets made her look like a snowman.

Bellamy, on the other hand had a jacket that just _screamed_ warm, a scarf, a hat and even a pair of gloves in his pockets. Somehow, he managed to pull it off and still look like a model.

"I'm good" she answered, because she didn't want to embarrass herself even more than she already did.

"I don't think so" he said, taking off his hat, than his scarf, and giving them to her. "Here, wear it."

"I told you, I'm good."

"Put it on or we're not going anywhere."

Something in the _fatherly_ tone of his voice made her laugh. That was until she saw him raising his brow at her, still handing her his clothes when she realized he wasn't joking. She finally grabbed the hat and the scarf from him and put them on.

"Are you always such a _dad_?"

He smirked again. "I thought we were done with this conversation, princess."

"No, seriously" she said when they approached his car. "Do you have a wife and kids I'm not aware of?"

He laughed, opening the door for her. "I have a little sister" he mentioned, but before she could say anything in response, he closed the door in front of her.

"Don't you have any plans with her?" she wondered when he got in the car.

"No" he said shortly, not bothering to look at her.

"Why?"

"Because I don't" he equivocated. She could hear the irritation in his voice, even though he did his best to hide it. _Alright. A sore spot._

"Okay" she mumbled. She felt like she could cut the tension with the knife if she had one, so she didn't even try to continue asking him about that. "Can I play some music?"

"Sure" he said, nodding at the radio. It took her a second to figure out how to turn it on, but she finally managed. Obviously, every radio station was playing christmas songs all day long, so she finally stopped at the fifth one, letting _A Winter's Tale_ blast from the radio.

"You don't like this one either?" she asked, even though Bellamy didn't seem to protest. It was Queen, after all.

"No, I like it" he objected. "Hey, where are we even going? I don't think they still sell trees on Christmas eve."

"Let's go to the Christmas Market, they sell trees right next to it."

"It's still open?"

"Yeah. Until midnight, I guess."

They drove towards the Centenary Square. Clarke was singing along to the songs playing on the radio. Bellamy didn't seem to enjoy the ones that came after _A Winter's Tale_ ended, but he didn't let her know about that. He glanced at her once in a while with a little smile on his face.

"I like your voice" he said all of sudden. "You make those songs sound good."

For some reason it felt like a huge compliment coming from him, making her cheeks turn pink. It was stupid, because he literally wanted to fuck her, so those words should be nothing compared to that. But somehow, they felt like so much more.

They soon got to their destination. It wasn't very crowded since it was late and it was the last day the market was working. Bellamy parked the car on a spot nearby and they got out, heading to look for christmas trees. They soon found a stall that wasn't officially the part of the market, but the salesman took advantage of the opportunity to take the place where a lot of people passed by.

Bellamy looked at the trees with a grimace on his face. "Do we really need to do that?"

"We do" she said, taking his hand in his and seconds later she was about to take it away, scolding herself for doing something so unbelievably _stupid,_ but he squeezed her hand tight in his, so she assumed he was okay with that. "Um, come on."

Picking the right tree wasn't so easy as she assumed it would be. Once she squared buying it with Bellamy, he couldn't find the one that would be perfect for him. It was either too big, or too small, not thick or not green enough. It took them almost twenty minutes to finally choose the one that he said was _acceptable_. He paid for it, raising his brows at the way too high price, but didn't leave a comment on that.

"Didn't expect you to be such a perfectionist" she told him. "You didn't even want a tree in the first place."

"My sister and I used to get a tree from the woods near our house" he explained, placing the tree on his shoulder. "We would spend hours to find a perfect one. I guess that's where I got it from."

His expression saddened at the mention of his sister, but she didn't dare to ask him about her again.

"Do you have any baubles?" she asked instead.

"Not one."

"Alright, then let's get some."

They walked to the stall with all kind of decorations. Clarke started to choose the ones she thought would look good in his apartment and he left it up to her, saying he trusts her 'artsy mind'.

"Hey, can you wait here for me for a few minutes?" he distracted her attention from the glass balls she was watching. "I'll leave it in my car and be right back" he added pointing at the tree that was weighing his arm.

"Sure" she said and then she watched him walking away from her.

Clarke really wasn't expecting _that_ when she thought about spending her Christmas alone in Birmingham.

Bellamy was back in about ten minutes, when she already chose the decorations she wanted him to buy. He paid for everything and they walked away from the stall. "Are you hungry?" he asked and she nodded, realizing that she didn't eat much that day.

They stopped by to buy some _panpepato_ cake which Bellamy claimed to be the best thing in the world. The second she tasted it she found out that maybe Bellamy was right, because it just tasted like Christmas and joy.

"My mom was half Italian" he mentioned while they were walking slowly towards the parking lot. "She used to make us all the best Italian food and every other kid was jealous."

"So that's why you aren't completely white?" she asked before she could bite herself in the tongue. "Shit, I sounded like a racist, sorry. I didn't mean-"

Thankfully, he looked rather amused than offended. "It's okay, I know what you mean. Actually, I'm half Filipino."

"So you're a mix of a lot of cultures, huh? I'm just a plain white girl."

"There's nothing wrong with that" he said. "You know, it's not like I know much about Filipino culture. I never even met my dad."

"Sorry about that" she muttered because she didn't know what else she could say.

He just shrugged. "Life." 

They soon got to the car and he threw the box with ornaments on the back sit which cost him a resistive hiss from Clarke.

"Can't you be more careful?" she criticized him, taking the box to her hands. "They'll break if you keep throwing them around like that."

"Jeez, who's being the mom now" he retorted with a grin on his face. She pushed him gently, trying to act offended, but it didn't work since she couldn't help smiling.

They drove back to his place, her singing along loudly to all of the songs playing on the radio and him listening to her with a grin that never left his face.

They got to his apartment and he placed the tree next to the TV stand. He ripped the net covering it and made a few steps backwards to see how it looked from the distance. "I think it looks good there" he noted, taking his eyes off the tree to look at her.

"Told ya."

"Come on, let's decorate that damn thing" he sighed, grabbing the box with the ornaments he'd purchased.

They started with the fairy lights and that went rather quickly. Bellamy, although, didn't seem to care how the lights looked like, but just that they were there, so he just threw them on the tree and considered it done. Clarke had to make her adjustments and she couldn't do without his complaints, because 'these were just fairy lights and nobody looked at them', but she had other ideas.

When they were done with the light, there came the time for the glass balls. They started hanging them on the tree and with those Bellamy seemed to be more careful.

"Why do you say you don't like Christmas?" he asked her as they were hanging decorations. "You're enjoying yourself too much to say you don't like it."

"Well, it's not like I _hate_ Christmas" she started explaining herself, because, well, maybe he had a point. "It's more like... I used to love it, but I don't anymore."

"Why?" he inquired and she thought it was a bit hypocritical of him, since he didn't want to talk about his reasons when she asked him about them before. Still, she didn't see why she should hide anything from him. Maybe he would open up to her if she opened up to him.

"We used to have really cool Christmas every year" she said, taking another bauble to her hand. "Big family, lots of presents and stuff. My dad organized everything and he never managed to disappoint us."

"Sounds nice" he noted, looking a little bit saddened. She assumed that maybe he didn't have what she had as a kid.

"It really was" she agreed. "But then my dad died and it kind of tore our family apart."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Yeah" she sighed. "My mom has a new husband who is just awful and that's the only family that I'm still in touch with."

"That sucks" he admitted. "But it must have been fun when you were younger. I mean, I wish I had a big family" he added.

"And you don't?"

"No" he trailed off, as if he was reflecting on whether he should continue or not. "It's just my sister and me" he finally said, not looking at her. "Our mom died when I was eighteen and Octavia was fourteen, so I had to adopt her. And it's been just us since then."

She didn't know how to respond to that confession. It felt so personal, so much more than what she told him and she didn't want to make him sadder than he already was. She eventually opted for, "Looks like you're close."

"Yeah" he smiled softly. "I practically raised her."

"Then why don't you spend Christmas with her?" she risked that question, hoping she didn't take it a step too far.

"She got a boyfriend" he answered slowly. "I never approved of him because he's older and she quit college for that guy. So one day I fought with her about it, she told me that I was overprotective and ruining her life."

He stopped for a second and she was almost sure she could see a single tear on his face and she wasn't sure what she should do. To be fair, she didn't expect him to be so vulnerable and open at all.

But maybe he was more complex than she previously assumed.

"What happened next?" she asked softly.

"I got angry and... I told her that I didn't have a childhood because of her and that my life ended the day she was born. It was the last time I've seen her." he confessed, forcing a sad laughter. "Terrible, right?"

"No" she answered honestly. Even though it seemed to be much more serious than her own family drama, it wasn't something that couldn't be undone. "You can still fix it, if you just talk to her."

"Maybe" he sighed, wiping the tear from his cheek. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I completely ruined the mood."

"You didn't" she said and she really meant it. For some reason, she was glad he opened up to her.

They came back to decorating the tree in silence. It wasn't awkward though, it felt good, comforting, even. "I feel like I've known you for a long time, you know?" he disclosed all of sudden. "It's hard to believe I met you only a few hours ago."

"I feel the same" she responded truthfully. It came to the point that it was hard to imagine that she _hadn't_ known him only a day before. Dammit, she woke up in the morning unaware that he existed.

Interesting, how fast she got attached to him.

They soon finished decorating the christmas tree and they both had to admit, it looked actually good. Even though they bought too little glass balls, resulting in some empty spots, the tree was simply lovely, maybe even prettier than the one she had in her own apartment.

She sat on the couch while he walked to the record player to put on some music. She wasn't sure what exactly was going to happen next. She felt tired, exhausted, actually, but she was too self conscious to ask him if she could sleep in his bed.

The music started playing and she recognized Frank Sinatra's voice, but she wasn't sure what song that was. He walked to her with a playful smile on his face and reached one of his hands to her. "Will you dance with me?" he asked.

"Dance?" she echoed. She didn't have much energy to even dance but... Something about him didn't let her say _no._ "Alright."

He helped her get up and held her tightly placing his hands on her waist. Clarke wrapped her arms around his shoulders and laid her head in the crook of his neck, practically clinging to him. They started rocking gently, slow dancing to the quiet sounds of the music.

She recognized the next song. It was _The Way You Look Tonight_ , maybe one of the most romantic songs of all time. She wondered if he'd thought of that song while picking the album to play, or just chose it randomly.

"I didn't expect to end up slow dancing to Frank Sinatra today" she whispered against the skin of his neck.

"Me neither. But I like it this way."

She slowly raised her head to look up at him. He was observing her with so much tenderness in his eyes, she wondered if anybody ever looked at her _like that._

"You're staring" she murmured, smiling gently at him.

"You can't blame me" he said softly. "You're too beautiful."

In that moment it was impossible _not_ to kiss him, so she cupped his face in both of her hands and joined their lips in a slow, tender kiss. He responded the same, he wasn't too aggressive or to soft, just _perfect._ He tasted like joy and freedom, and a little bit of wildness she couldn't quite explain.

She didn't recall getting to his bedroom or lying down on his bed, too busy devouring him. He was on top of her again, just kissing her while his hands ghosted on her skin.

"I'm tired" she whispered when they lips parted and they were both panting heavily.

"I know" he hummed, nosing her cheekbone. "I just wanna kiss you. Is that alright?"

She nodded slightly and he joined his lips with hers again, somehow making her feel safer than she'd felt for a long time.

***

Clarke woke up the next morning, feeling the firm arm wrapped around her. She didn't exactly remember when she fell asleep, probably somewhere in between Bellamy's soft kisses.

She looked down to see that she wasn't wearing just her dress anymore - she had a big, warm sweater on her and she assumed Bellamy put it on her when she was already asleep to keep her warm.

She turned around to find that he was still asleep and she thought that she'd never seen someone to look so beautiful and peaceful while sleeping. His hair were even more unruly than in the evening and she wondered how much time he spent putting them to rights.

"Good morning, Princess" he murmured with his eyes still closed. "Slept well?"

"Never better."

He cupped her face with his hand and drew her to himself softly, brushing his lips against hers. "Is that right?" he asked quietly and she nodded.

"I got a gift for you" he said to her surprise.

She raised her brows. "A gift?"

"Yeah. It's Christmas, isn't it?"

After saying those words he hopped off the bed and walked to the living room, disappearing i the doorframe. She wondered _what the hell_ he could possibly have for her. All the time he knew her, they spent together.

He came back quickly with a small package wrapped in the paper with a ribbon on top. _Wow._

She couldn't hide her astonishment. "You wrapped it in the paper? When did you have time for that?"

He shrugged. "You fell asleep quickly, I had plenty of time" he said simply, handing her the present. "Come on, open it" he added, noticing her hesitation.

She ripped the paper to find the tackiest set of hat and scarf she'd ever seen and she realized he had to buy it on the Market. "I don't want you to catch a cold" he said, smiling at her softly. "Do you like it?"

"I love it" she said. Even though the set itself was ugly as hell, she couldn't ignore the fact how sweet Bellamy was for buying her that, and she felt so bad for not having anything to give to him, until she thought of something. "Come here, time for my present."

He obeyed, lying down on the bed next to her and she positioned herself on top on him, crushing her lips against her in the kiss that was much deeper and dirtier than the ones they shared last evening. Bellamy didn't protest, placing his palms on her back, running them up and down, gently caressing her skin. They parted one, maybe two minutes later, both breathing heavily.

"Cheap" he teased, but his expression betrayed him, showing just how much he enjoyed it.

"Didn't you like your present?" she asked playfully, running her thumb on his cheek.

"No, I loved it" he grinned at her. "The best gift I've ever got." He kissed her shortly one more time. "Merry Christmas, Princess."

"Merry Christmas, Bellamy."

They got out of bed about twenty minutes later after another make out session. She went to the bathroom to fix her already ruined makeup as much as it was possible using just water. As she was getting out of it, she started pulling off his sweater.

"No, you keep it" he stopped her. "You look better in it than I do, anyway."

She decided she wouldn't fight with him on that, because she had a feeling that he'd be very resistant to take back the sweater. Besides, it was warm and she really didn't want to take it off.

Bellamy made them scrambled eggs for breakfast and soon she was ready to go. She didn't necessarily want to leave, but she couldn't find any pretext to stay. They both walked out of his apartment since Bellamy insisted he drove her home.

"So, no plans for today?" she asked him as they were approaching the block of flats where she lived.

"Well, actually...I think I'll go to Arkadia. To talk to my sister."

She glanced at him quite astonished. After last night's confession, she didn't expect him to make up with his sister soon. "That's... That's great, Bellamy."

"Yeah" he sighed. "You kind of made me realize that's it's not a lost cause just yet."

He parked up next to the entrance of her apartment block. "Well, I guess this is it" she said, a bit reluctant to leave his rover.

"Right. Unless..." he trailed off.

She glanced at him, trying to hide the hopefulness in her eyes. "Unless?"

He cleared his throat. "Unless you want to come with me? I don't want you to be alone on Christmas day."

She expected a lot, but not _that._ "You want me to come with you?"

"I could show you Arkadia" he proposed. "If you want to, of course."

She had a choice - either she could spend the day alone, wondering whether she'd ever see Bellamy again or she could spend it with him, in his family town and then maybe, _maybe_ this - whatever that was between them - could actually go somewhere promising. The choice was pretty simple.

"I would love that."

**Author's Note:**

> it’s a little late to tell you Merry Christmas, so I just wanna wish you a happy new year :)


End file.
